Manavi was founded in 1985 by a group of six South Asian women: Shamita Das Dasgupta, Radha Sarma Hegde, Shashi Jain, Rashmi Jaipal, Vibha Jha, and Kavery Dutta, as a consciousness raising group interested in addressing concerns faced by South Asian women in the U.S. However, Manavi soon expanded its goals in response to requests from the community to begin providing services to women facing abuse.